“I’m going to turn on the prow light,” Clay replied. “We can’t do any shooting by the light of the electrics. If she moves at all, as she will, of course, she’ll be in the dark. Don’t come with me, but get where you can shoot without hitting me. I’ll be at the back of the boat, understand? Alex and the dog are not far away now, and so we’ve got to do whatever is done right quick. Don’t miss when you shoot!”
“I won’t miss if I can help it,” replied the boy. “You don’t think I want to be devoured by the bear, do you. Shoot straight yourself!”
Clay moved slowly back, entered the water, clinging to the side of the boat, now rocking violently because of the tumbling going on inside the cabin, and finally reached out for the electric switch.
When Alex and Captain Joe emerged from the thicket, a second later, they saw a sight which stopped their breath as well as their legs for an instant. The deck of the Rambler lay at an angle of about thirty degrees, cocked up on wheels in front and resting in the water at the rear. On the prow sat Teddy, all wound up in his rope because of his twistings to get away, and from out the door of the cabin looked the stolid face of a huge grizzly bear, her little eyes flaming with rage, her teeth showing where the snarling lips were drawn back. Neither Clay nor Case was in sight.
Captain Joe bounded forward at first, but stopped at a call from the boy. Teddy sat up straighter and welcomed the dog with a whine, thus transferring his loyalty from the bear to the canine.
“Hey, there!” Alex called out. “Where are you? I didn’t know we kept furnished rooms to rent on the Rambler! Who’s your new tenant?”
Then shots came from the prow of the boat and bruin rushed for the deck, but the incline was considerable and one of the shots had taken effect in her shoulder, so she fell and rolled, snarling, back to the door of the cabin. More shots came from the prow, and she arose and struck at the air with her great paws, as if trying to meet the bullets with all her brute force.
Presently she fell, wounded to the death, and then Alex saw Case and Clay enter the lighted space and fire shot after shot at the bear.
“Save the lead!” the boy called. “Come back, Captain Joe!”
But Captain Joe had no intention of missing the final act in the tragedy in progress on the deck of the Rambler. He sprang to the side of the boat, looked up at the elevated prow, expressed his disapproval of the arrangement by a low growl, and, walking back, entered the rivulet and so climbed over the lower end of the vessel, where it lay down in the water. Teddy watched him with twinkling eyes as he approached the body of the bear. Satisfied that the grizzly was harmless, the dog slipped up to the cub and looked him over. The boys broke into laughter.